Back to the Future: Restoring Lake Jonah

Designed by landscape architect Edward Eichstaedt and built in 1933 at the cost of $34,000, the 1.2 acre, 3 million gallon, 16-foot-deep lake served as a campus swimming hole for many decades. Summer camps, theater performances, and faculty picnics often occurred on this happy spot. But without a lifeguard - and with occasional use by visitors from off campus - the decision to close Lake Jonah for swimming was made in 1999.

The lake somehow filled with countless plant-devouring goldfish over the years, and the banks remain artificially maintained.

With a plan for long-term native restoration, classes such as Environmental Science and AP Biology, taught by Matt Gump and Nick Amos, will add aquatic plants to the lake, native trees to the shores, and build shelters for birds and animals.  The CK Beekeeping Club has moved beehives to area and will plant pollinators throughout the area for plant diversity. Environmental Science students have stocked bluegills, catfish, and bass into the lake to reduce the number of goldfish.

A major goal is to continue to connect the Upper School, Middle Schools, Brookside, and Cranbrook Institute of Science to this one area. As years pass students will use Lake Jonah as a living laboratory as the place returns to natural beauty with cat tails, lily pads, and beautiful native flora and fauna.